PLDT, Intel team up for MSME development

MANILA, Philippines – PLDT Inc. has tied up with technology giant Intel Philippines to provide solutions to support operations of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) amid ongoing digital disruption in business.

The partnership of PLDT SME Nation with Intel was forged to equip entrepreneurs with bundled solutions readily available for them whether their presence is online or they have a physical store.

“Together with Intel Philippines, we further our efforts in digitally enabling MSMEs in their vision of competing on the global platform with our solutions made specifically for their growth,” Mitch Locsin, PLDT vice president and head of SME Nation said in a statement.

“By being at the forefront of digital innovation, PLDT SME Nation makes the shared vision of driving economic empowerment through innovative technologies a reality,” he said.

Through the collaboration, MSMEs can access three turnkey solutions called SME BizCrates which feature connectivity, cloud, and other relevant services from PLDT on top of the latest office hardware from Intel.

With the Web Builder Crate, MSMEs can go beyond traditional operations and utilize social media to increase customer engagement with website-building tools that create a transactional platform to expand market reach.

The POS Crate meanwhile, enables business owners to automate records of sales and inventory processes with uncomplicated analytics so they can have more time and financial resources for other aspects of operations.

Through the Smarter Conferencing Crate, MSMEs would be able to make collaboration and communication with team members easier.

By using the SME “BizCrates,” MSMEs would be able to reap the benefits of analytics by being able to plan ahead and reducing errors in operations.

PLDT which is the country’s largest telco, is shifting its focus to digital services from traditional businesses of voice calls and text messages, amid growing use and importance of the internet in the daily lives of consumers.

Earlier, Locsin said PLDT SME Nation is aiming to grow revenues generated from providing solutions meant to help businesses grow and deal with disruptive technologies being introduced in different industries.